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Commentary

Smart Content Marketing Relies On Efficient Production

By stuff, marketing professionals are referring to the production and distribution of the variety
of content that flows from strategies that are built to engage audiences, improve search rank, and yield better bottom line business results. As I discussed in the first two posts of this
extended series on effective content marketing strategies (post one here and post two here), marketing practice is evolving to meet the changing behaviors of audiences as they
interact with multiple screens, maintain multiple communities, and rely on guidance for purchasing decisions from a whole variety of sources/

But where do all those videos, photos, blog
posts, podcasts and tweets come from, and how -- particularly in environments with limited resources - do you make it all happen?

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I have a mantra I share with my clients that's obvious
but all too easily forgotten: produce once / repurpose many. I find stating the obvious is important because marketing folks get caught up in one of two bad habits: (1) they never really get
started, believing executing a good marketing content strategy is too hard or labor-intensive, or (2) they execute content production tasks in silos and find in the final analysis that they've
been inefficient, driving up costs in the process.

By adopting efficient content production tactics that enable you to create multiple forms of content from a single effort, and deploying
that content through a variety of channels, most people I work with find they're not only able to embrace a content marketing strategy, but they can show real ROI on the effort as a result.

A few years ago I was inspired by an interview I had with a Bloomberg reporter who asked if he could capture our conversation using the equivalent of a Flip HD video camera (being Bloomberg, I
think they used a fancier version of the now ubiquitous -- and recently discontinued -- camera). He explained that by
conducting the interview on video, he could edit it for their video channel; use the transcript to write his story; extract the audio for his podcast series; and grab stills for associated photos. I
still remember being thunderstruck by the simplicity of this multichannel content production strategy.

First, I was blown away by the nonchalance with which he made the statement, as if to
say: "Doesn't everyone work this way?" And second, I realized I had all the tools to work exactly like this enterprising reporter, so why not apply it to my content marketing
strategy?

For smaller organizations, adopting this simple tactic for creating original content that aligns with your keyword strategies creates efficiencies and lower overall costs of
production and ownership. For larger organizations, it's a terrific way to reorganize your resources so that everyone, no matter what silo they may work in within the larger marketing department,
is producing content that can be repurposed in any other silo.

For instance, a PR team member can capture an interview that includes a product director's discussion of a coming release
of a new product on video. That video can be used in your company's YouTube channel at launch and featured on a website. The transcript forms the basis of a press release and blog post, both
of which are repurposed into newsletters, or maybe form the basis of a white paper. You can pull out the audio and publish it to a podcast channel. And you can grab stills for use in blog posts, press
releases, newsletters and a Flickr channel, among other places.

All of this, of course, drives audience engagement, links in third-party blog posts and media coverage, and social sharing in
places like Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook. And that activity improves SEO, drives traffic to Web sites, improves demand-gen and lead-gen, and leads to increases in sales.

Marketing content strategy is essential to the success of marketing efforts today. It needn't be expensive or time-consuming in order to be highly effective. I'm sure there are other
tips and strategies you use to ensure content marketing is highly effective and efficient -- share your thoughts and suggestions below.

A couple of weeks ago, a commenter
recommended this blog post for tips for creating valuable branded content by Tamsin Hemingray over at iCrossing, with contributions from
my fellow columnist Rob Garner - it's relevant to this column and a great post. (And thanks to all those who've commented on the first two posts - all good stuff.)

The next few
posts in this series will focus on specific content types and how to get the most out of each. Next week: what journalists can teach us about writing good content -- and why journalism majors
make good marketers.

The point about the Bloomberg reporter making use of the interview for multiple channels should be taken further. In larger, more diverse organizations, and even some smaller ones, that content may be best used intermittently, over longer periods of time. All those digital assets, if you will - have to be organized so they are easily accessible, perhaps by people in multiple locations. That is where CMS and DAM product suites come in, so content is available, usually searchable, and not lost or forgotten in the files.

I'm torn about this article. On the one hand, I thoroughly endorse clever, low cost ways of working.

On the other hand, too many companies think the videos they create for themselves are effective. (Even YouTube's self-produced video's are bad communication. It's not production value I'm talking about - it's their impact for you as communication.)

The easy thing to create is the talking head. But in most cases, people don't want to see video of your CEO, CMO, CTO, CIO, or other VIP as a talking head. (Remember, the only reason shareholders hear them out is that they're present at the meeting.)

But the myth that this is good content causes the daily creation of decades worth of talking head videos.

Much better to move beyond talking head. But I once saw an ex-client website including video they had created quickly internally. Except, the video's left considerably more open questions than they resolved - making a step backward in communication.

The really tough questions: How do you know when you should use these techniques to create content inexpensively? (Sometime's is the right choice). How do you know when you should pay top dollar for your video assets? (Sometimes THIS is the only choice that will work.)

Sadly, I can't offer an easy answer. Because it depends on what you need the video to achieve.

I often give similar advice to our clients about repurposing content for multiple uses. This is a great post and reminds me that many are often overwhelmed by content marketing, when in fact the majority of the content already exists, it just needs some editing or reformatting.